Recipe review: Pasta with Proscuitto and Lettuce

I saw this recipe posted on Cooking Channel’s Facebook page. It’s a recipe by Mark Bittman, and to be honest with you….I will eat anything with proscuitto, although the thought of wilted lettuce scared me. You see, I’m one of those people who freaks out when I get a burger or some hot sandwich and the lettuce inside has wilted. I get grossed out by the texture.

I put my bias of wilted lettuce aside and tried this recipe out. It was merely okay to say the least. I think it  needed something extra in terms of the flavor, I’m not sure. All that said, the lettuce wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

The original website for this recipe is:

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/mark-bittman/pasta-with-prosciutto-and-lettuce-recipe/index.html

INGREDIENTS

• Salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 to 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
• 1 pound pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 shallot, minced

• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups fresh or frozen peas
• 1 head Bibb or Boston lettuce (about 6 ounces), cored, leaves cut into 3/4-inch slices
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stockor dry white wine, plus more as needed
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it. Meanwhile, put 1 tablespoon oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add prosciutto and cook, turning occasionally, until crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes; set aside.When water boils, add pasta and cook until just tender; drain pasta, reserving some cooking liquid. Meanwhile, melt butter with remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and sprinkle with salt and pepper; cook until shallot begins to soften, about 5 minutes.Add peas, lettuce, and stock or wine to skillet and cook until peasturn bright green and lettuce is wilted, about 5 minutes. Add pasta to pan and continue cooking and stirring until everything is just heated through, adding extra stock or some reserved cooking liquid if needed to moisten. Toss with Parmesan cheese, garnish withprosciutto, adjust seasoning to taste and serve.

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